Through a contract with the IOM, NIA will participate in the meetings and workshops of the Institute of Medicine Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence, organized and chaired by John Rowe. Participation in the Forum will provide the opportunity for NIA to influence the topical focus of Forum activities. Specifically, during the course of Forum meetings, members identify topics for public workshops and other information-gathering activities (e.g., surveys, interviews and commissioned papers) of benefit to NIA program activities. NIA has long supported work on old age disability trends and currently funds the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), a new resource for the scientific study of functioning in later life. Interaction with this diverse expert group could help develop new areas of research on old age disability as well as provide insights to research needs that could influence study design for NHATS.